U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R) talks to state lawmakers about passing a budget plan, and giving federal programs back to local governments.
Senator Blunt has a few words for Washington: he says planning is not “what it ought to be,” money spent should be prioritized, and local governments should be in charge of education programs.
Blunt says he and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill both voted to pass a federal budget plan and says it’s a problem when you don’t have a budget because when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. He says one way money should be prioritized is by taking advantage of the form of government that we have.
“One way to prioritize it is to get back to the fundamentals of this unique system that we have in America that not many other people have,” he said. “The Constitutional system is unique but also the federal system is unique.”
Blunt says it’s important to get back to the question of when someone says, “this is a problem that needs to be solved,” the first question that should be asked is, “Is this really a problem that only the government can solve?”
He says the closer you put the people who solve a problem to the problem, the more likely you are going to see that problem solved with common sense. Blunt said he would be in favor of having Washington take back some programs they have created, such as Medicaid and give education programs back to the state so local governments could run it.
He adds that the state would have better solutions if more federal programs were governed by local governments.
AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:00)